NDP and BRP Frame Protocol for Wireless Ranging Accuracy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beamforming calibration techniques in wireless communication systems do not include information about Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), Azimuth, Channel Frequency Response (CFR), Channel Impulse Response (CIR), Power Delay Profile (PDP), and other channel calibration metrics, leading to increased system overhead and latency.
Innovation Solution
The use of Null Data Packet (NDP) frames and Beam Refinement Protocol (BRP) frames to facilitate the exchange of angular and channel calibration information between stations, enabling improved UE location determination and channel characterization through the transmission of CFI, AoA, AoD, and Azimuth data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing beamforming calibration techniques are used, then channel calibration can be performed, but the system overhead and latency increase due to missing angular information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple calibration metrics (AoA, AoD, Azimuth, CFR, CIR, PDP) into a unified protocol framework using NDP and BRP frames. This merging of previously separate calibration procedures into a single integrated exchange reduces the number of separate frame transmissions required, thereby reducing system latency while maintaining comprehensive channel calibration accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The NDPA frame is designed with a versatile structure that can carry multiple types of calibration information (angular information, channel metrics) in a single frame type. This multi-functionality allows the protocol to perform both angular measurement and channel calibration simultaneously, reducing overhead and improving efficiency without requiring separate specialized frames for each metric.
2Loss of information
If multiple separate frames are used for different calibration metrics, then comprehensive channel information can be obtained, but the number of frame exchanges increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple calibration information types into the NDPA and BRP frame structures. The NDPA frame includes angular information (AoA, AoD, Azimuth) and the BRP frame carries channel metrics (CFR, CIR, PDP), allowing comprehensive calibration data to be transmitted in integrated frame sequences rather than multiple separate exchanges, thus improving productivity while maintaining information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The protocol nests multiple information elements within hierarchical frame structures. Angular information is nested within the NDPA frame, which announces the subsequent NDP frame, which in turn is followed by the BRP frame containing channel metrics. This nested organization allows comprehensive calibration information to be conveyed through a coordinated sequence of frames rather than requiring separate flat-level exchanges for each metric type.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed embodiments facilitate wireless channel calibration, including ranging and direction finding, between wirelessly networked devices. In some embodiments. a method on a first station (STA) may comprise: transmitting a first NDPA frame to one or more second stations (STAs), the first NDPA frame comprising a first bit indicating that one or more subsequent frames comprise ranging or angular information; and transmitting, after a Short Interval Frame Space (SIFS) time interval, a second frame. The second frame may be one of: a Null Data Packet az (NDP_az) frame with information about a time of transmission of the NDP_az frame, or a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame, or a Beam Refinement Protocol (BRP) frame. The first NDPA frame may be unicast, multicast, or broadcast.